Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Monday have accorded a high priority to contemporary political issues including the ruling coalition’s preparations for the Cabinet expansion, which is expected to happen today, and an interim order of the Supreme Court to stay the oath of three National Assembly members appointed by the President. Reports about the conclusion of seventh meeting of Eminent Persons’ Group on Nepal-India Relations and disputes surfaced between Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Paudel during a Nepali Congress central working committee meeting have also been published on the front page of various newspapers.
Some newspapers have also highlighted other contemporary issues from socio-cultural and economic life of the country.
Important
Supreme Court stays National Assembly appointments
The Supreme Court has ordered the Federal Parliament Secretariat not to administer the oath of office and secrecy to three members of the National Assembly–Yubaraj Khatiwada, Ram Narayan Bidari and Bimala Rai Paudyal–who were appointed by the President upon the recommendation of government last week.
Nagarik says a single bench of Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut ordered that the oath be postponed till the final verdict on the case. Earlier, three other persons recommended for the same position by erstwhile Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government had moved the court claiming the President did not have any right to reject the Cabinet recommendation.
In response to the writ, the bench also made an initial remark that the ceremonial president could not exercise such rights.
Cabinet expansion likely today
Annapurna Post, Nepal Samacharpatra, Naya Patrika and The Himalayan Times say that Prime Minister Oli is planning to give the full shape to his three-member Cabinet today. Nepal Samacharpatra says the oath of new ministers has been scheduled at the President’s Office at Sheetal Niwas in Kathmandu today.
The Himalayan Times informs that the ruling coalition of UML and CPN-Maoist Centre have also convinced the Upendra Yadav-led Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal to join the government assuring the party of two ministerial berths and the position of deputy speaker.
Meanwhile, Naya Patrika says top leaders of two communist parties are facing a hard time to select ministers from the hopes whose number is far higher than the number of available positions.
4,000 govt staff apply for voluntary retirement
Gorkhapatra, Rajdhani and Republica say the voluntary retirement scheme introduced by the government has turned out to be effective as around 4,000 staff have filed applications to quit the job after getting an attractive benefit package.
The government had given a time of 45 days to file applications for retirement if the staff do not want to go to the place wherever they will be mobilised once the new federal structure is fully implement, according to the report. Rajdhani says those applying for the scheme include three government secretaries too,
The Ministry of General Administration says 3,480 staff have applied for retirement till Sunday, and it will go up as the Ministry is yet to collect data from all districts.
Meanwhile, their retirement will cost the state as much as Rs 10 to 12 billion, according to Republica.
Compensation order for murder convict as she was failed longer than sentence
Annapurna Post, Rajdhani and The Himalayan Times have reported that the Supreme Court on Sunday ordered the government to compensate a murder convict as she was forced to spend longer than required by her sentence.
Padam Maya Gurung, a resident of Dhankuta district, was made to serve five years, six months and 10 days more than the sentence awarded to her for killing her newborn baby, according to The Himalayan Times. Annapurna Post says she will get Rs 300 for each additional day that she was jailed. It means she will get Rs 604,500.
The verdict handed down by Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli and Justice Kedar Prasad Chalise has set a new precedent, according to Rajdhani.
Ignored
There are only 71 fire trucks in Nepal
Though fire incidents are quite common in different places of the country, Nepal is reeling under an acute shortage of fire trucks to contain such situations, according o Janata Post lead story.
There are just 71 fire trucks and local governments operate them. On the other hand, total 1,259 incidents of fire have been reported in past 10 months, causing a loss to 1,259 houses, according to the report.
CJ Parajuli accused of imposing censorship on media contents
Lead stories in The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur have accused Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli of imposing a censorship on media contents as he directed Press Council Nepal to probe reports published by Kantipur daily that highlighted discrepancies in his date of birth. The report includes opinions from experts of law and media who have viewed that Parajuli’s handling of case, related to himself, is against principles of natural justice.
Interesting
Nepal gets aid commitment of Rs 174 billion in 7.5 months
Various foreign countries and donor agencies have expressed their commitment to provide Rs 174.38 billion assistance to Nepal since the beginning to current fiscal year in mid-July last year, informs Nagarik. Of that, Rs 96.56 million will be grant and Rs 77.82 billion will be loan, according to the report.
